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Eight books for elementary through high school readers center issues of democracy with engaging examples and stories.

“Because Black history isn’t centered, you have to search harder for those stories,” says Gill, who has researched figures including Spottswood Rice, who escaped enslavement and joined the Union Army, and motorcyclist Bessie Stringfield. 

In each of the 41 titles on this year’s United States Board on Books for Young People’s (USBBY) Outstanding International Books list, the authors and ­illustrators empower readers to make sense of themselves and the world at large. Download the full list.

We need more than ever inclusive ways to socialize with family, friends, and neighbors. In this list, two dozen books about kindness offer a recalibration or supplement to manners to account for the many ways our cultures, families, and differences manifest practices of getting along with one another.

January 16 is 'Appreciate a Dragon Day' and there is no shortage of dragon books to help readers celebrate. Here are some titles to share with children who can't get enough of the magical creatures.

Mostly realistic fiction, these recent YA novels (and one picture book) cover first love, found family, and living authentically. Each shines a light on queer & trans stories in both past and present settings, proving that LGBTQIA+ youth have always been here—and are not going anywhere. 

When it’s executed well, the unreliable narrator device can turn a story around in memorable and highly satisfying ways. Here are 13 stellar examples of recent books with narrators who mislead, misdirect, or even outright lie to readers, waiting for just the right moment to reveal the truth.

These nine works for elementary students to teenagers use visual strategies to convey inner thoughts, feelings, and emotions. 

Who doesn't love a booklist? SLJ's got 'em. From Best Books and Refreshing the Canon—our joint effort with NCTE—to Spanish-language picture books and titles on non-apparent disabilities, our most popular booklists of 2023.